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. 1997 Jun 15;25(12):2522–2528. doi: 10.1093/nar/25.12.2522

The class II trans-activator CIITA interacts with the TBP-associated factor TAFII32.

J D Fontes 1, B Jiang 1, B M Peterlin 1
PMCID: PMC146770  PMID: 9171108

Abstract

The class II trans- activator (CIITA) is the main transcriptional co-activator for the expression of MHC class II proteins. Its N-terminal 125 amino acids function as an independent transcriptional activation domain. Analyses of the primary amino acid sequence of the activation domain predict the presence of three alpha-helices, each with a high proportion of acidic residues. Using site-directed mutagenesis, we found that two of these predicted alpha-helices are required for full transcriptional activation by CIITA. Moreover, a CIITA protein in which both functional alpha-helices have been deleted displays a dominant negative phenotype. This activation domain of CIITA interacts with the 32 kDa subunit of the general transcription complex TFIID, TAFII32. Decreased transcriptional activation by N-terminal deletions of CIITA is correlated directly with their reduced binding to TAFII32. We conclude that interactions between TAFII32 and CIITA are responsible for activation of class II genes.

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Selected References

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